Device for guiding postal articles, forms or the like



p 1956 c. J. VAN DALEN ETAL 3,272,500

DEVICE FOR GUIDING POSTAL ARTICLES, FORMS OR THE LIKE Filed Jan. 23, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TORS E. J. VAN DALLN, y E-L.DE JUNE.

Sept. 13, 1956 c. J. VAN DALEN' ETAL 3,272,500

DEVICE FOR GUIDING POSTAL ARTICLES, FORMS OR THE LIKE Filed Jan. 23, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS L. J. I IAN DALEN,

BY E.L.DE J0 5.

ATTX

Sept. 13, 1966 c. J. VAN DALEN ETAL 3,272,500

DEVICE FOR GUIDING POSTAL ARTICLES, FORMS OR THE LIKE Filed Jan. 25, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet I5 INVENTORS: E. l Im DALEN,

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United States Patent 0 3,272,500 DEVTCE Fil h GUllDih-JG PGSTAL ARTICLES, FURME 6R THE LKKE Christiana .iohannes van Dalen, Leidschendam, and Cornelis Leendert dc long, The Hague, Netherlands, assignors to tie Staat der Nederlanden, ten Dene Vertegenwoordigd door the Directenr-Generaal der Posterijen, Telegrafie en Telefonie, The Hague, Netherlands Filed .lian. 2.3, 1961, Ser. No. 84,268 Claims priority, application Netherlands, Jan. 25, 1960, 247,689 8 Claims. (till. 27fi-34) The invention relates to a device for guiding postal articles, forms or the like, to which said postal articles, forms or the like are offered in piles in order to be taken from the piles one by one and guided further sequentially. In feeding postal articles, forms, transfers, banknotes, etc. to sorting-machines, stamping-machines, adding-machines, etc., it is ditficult to deliver only one document at a time from the pile to be treated to the relevant machine. In existing systems it happens that two or more documents stick together and are offered to the relevant machines together.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a simple, effective, efiicient and economical machine which will remove and deliver one and only one sheet or postal article, or the like, from a pile or stack thereof without damage to said article regardless of its measurements or thickness.

In the system according to this invention, a roller or cylinder has been provided, which has a slippin coupling with the driving-mechanism of a belt against which the postal articles, forms, or the like are pressed, and against which belt said roller also is pressed elastically. The

belt acts on the first document of the pile and moves it forward between said belt and roller. When roller and belt are in direct contact with each other, or in contact with a single document, the direction of movement of the circumference of the roller is determined by and is the same as the direction of movement of the belt at that place. If there is more than one document between the roller and belt, the direction of movement of the roller is determined by the driving-mechanism and is opposite to the direction of movement of the belt. Thus, any surplus or extra document is guided in a direction contrary to the direction of movement of the belt, and the document stopped will not be guided further until the preceding document has passed the additional roller.

Now the documents will always pass one by one, regardless of the measurements of the documents. The documents also follow each other immediately, which cannot always be said of existing mechanisms. This means an improvement of the coeflicient of utilization.

The above mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be understood best by reference to the following description of an embodiement of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one form of prior art device for removing flat articles by belts from a stack of such articles;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another form of prior art device for removing flat articles by belts from a stack of such articles, including the employment of a reversely driving roller adjacent the stack or pile of articles and the take-off belt;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic diagram of a device according to this invention showing the normal operation of the device;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged schematic diagram similar to that of FIG. 3 showing the return of an additional flat article which has been removed from the stack or pile by the belt;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a device according to the diagrams of FIGS. 3 and 4 for guiding postal letters, one at a time; and

PEG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the slipping coupling and roller adjacent the pile or stack of articles opposite the take-off belt.

A Well-known prior art system is illustrated in FIG. 1. A, B, C and D are transport rollers driven in the direction shown and moving conveyor belts S and T in the direction shown. Documents put in at A will be delivered sequentially at C in a manner as shown. Z represents a pile of documents guided and stacked against a partition P and pushed with a force K against roller A. When moved by roller A, belt S will slip documents from pile Z and feed them at A between the belts S and T, Where they are conveyed further.

Now it happens that when two or more documents are slipped oif together they also are moved on together.

Another and improved prior art system is as shown in FIG. 2. According to this system an additional roller E has been provided, which is driven in the oppisite direction, but with a smaller circumferential velocity than the belts S and T. If now two or more documents get between belt S and roller B, only the document lying against the belt S is moved further, the others being returned to the stack or pile Z or stopped from movement until the upper documents are moved on one at a time by belt S.

It is a drawback of this system that the forces acting on the two sides of the document moved forward, are in opposite direction. Thus it may happen that the documents guided are damaged. If this system is used for the transport of letters, thin airmail letters will be destroyed. Moreover the friction between belt and document must be larger than the friction between document and roller E. Further the introduction of a document at B is not simple, because the belt S moves in a direction opposite to that of roller E.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 illustrate the system according to the invention. In these figures, F denotes the roller which is coupled by a slipping coupling to the driving-mechanism of the conveyor belt S.

In FIG. 3 there is no document between the belt S and the roller F. Now the direction of movement of the circumference of roller F is determined by the direction of movement of the belt and both move in the same direction, as indicated in FIG. 3.

The introduction of documents meets with no difficulties in this case.

FIG. 4 illustrates the situation in which two documents Lil and L2 are found between belt S and roller F.

In this case the direction of rotation of roller F is determined by the driving-mechanism of the belt and the direction of movement of the circumference of roller F V is opposite to the direction of movement of belt S.

The first document Ll moves to the right due to a force exercised on it by belt S. The second document L2 moves to the left due to a force exercised on it by roller F.

Moreover the first document L1 exercizes another force on the second document, L2 due to which the latter has a tendency to move to the right. The force exercised on it by the roller, however, is larger than that exercized on it by the first document. So the first docu ment will move to the right, the second to the left.

The second document L2 is only moved to the right by belt S after the first document Ll has passed roller F.

When there is only one document between belt S and roller F (see FIG. roller F is no longer directly coupled with the belt. Two forces act on roller F then. One of them is the force exercised on it by the passing document, due to which the circumferential direction of the roller will be the same as the direction of movement of the belt at that spot. The other one is the force exercised by the driving-mechanism of the belt, due to which a force will be exercised in the circumferential direction of the roller, contrary to the direction of movement of the belt at that spot.

Now the coupling of F with the driving-mechanism of the belt is a slipping coupling, due to which the latter force will be a minimum with respect to the first, so that the documents will not be damaged.

Thus the device sees to it that the documents pass one by one, regardless of their measurements.

With existing devices the guiding of documents of different sizes always met with difficulties.

Further the documents follow each other immediately; at this point too the existing devices failed more or less. Finally FIG. 6 illustrates the principle of a slipping coupling.

These slipping couplings are well-known. 3 designates the roller F, a rubber roller mounted on a shaft 4. This shaft is coupled via a felt disc 5 with a driving-shaft 6. The latter shaft is driven by a string or belt ll via a driving wheel 2.

The shaft 4 can slip with respect to the shaft 6 due to the insertion of the felt disc 5.

The measure of slip can be adjusted by means of bolts 7 and 8, which can be screwed into the table 9 more or less, due to which the felt 5 is compressed more or less, respectively.

While we have illustrated and described what we regard to be the preferred embodiment of our invention, nevertheless it will be understood that such is merely exemplary and that numerous modifications and rearrangements may.

be made therein without departing from the essence of the invention,

We claim:

1. Device for feeding out, one by one, sheets (Z) of laminar material, which together form a stack, said device comprising a positively driven conveyor member and a moveable friction member (F or 3) cooperating under pressure with the conveyor member (S), the cooperating parts of which members move along closed tracks and between which members the sheets are fed out, the direction of movement of the friction member being dependent on the possible presence between the friction member and the conveyor member of at least two superimposed sheets of laminar material (see FIG. 4), while the friction between the friction member and one of the sheets as Well as the friction between the conveyor member and one of the sheets is greater than the friction between two of the sheets, continuously operating driving means 1, 2 for the friction member, including driving members and a slip clutch 5 between the driving members and the friction member, continuously tending to drive the friction member via the slip clutch, with a force which is always sufiicient to overcome the friction between two of the sheets of laminar material, in a direction opposite to the direction in which the friction member is influenced by the conveyor member.

2. A device for removing one flat article at a time 4. from a pile of said flat articles and guiding them sequentially along a path, comprising:

(a) a belt means moving transversely of said pile in friction contact with the article at one end of said pile.

(b) roller means adjacent said pile pressed elastically against said belt means as it leaves said pile.

(c)means for driving said roller means in the opposite direction of said belt means, and

(d) a slipping coupling means between said driving means and said roller means, whereby the direction of movement of said roller means is dependent upon the possible presence between said roller means and said belt means of at least two superimposed flat articles, while the friction between said roller means and one of said articles as well as the friction between said belt means and one of said articles is greater than the friction between two of said articles, so that said means for driving said roller means tends to drive said roller means via said slipping coupling means with a force which is always sufficient to overcome the friction between two of said fiat articles in a direction opposite to the direction in which said roller means is influenced by said belt means, and thus said roller means only rotates in said opposite driven direction when not in contact with said belt means or a single flat article between said roller means and said belt means.

3. A device according to claim 2 including means for urging said pile and belt means into friction contact with each other.

4. A device according to claim 2 including means to retain said pile of flat articles separate from said roller means.

5. A device according to claim 2 wherein said flat articles include postal articles.

6. A device according to claim 2 wherein said flat articles comprise sheets of uniforms size and thickness.

7. A device according to claim 2 including means for adjusting the degree of slipping of said slipping coupling means.

8. A device for removing postal articles, forms or the like, one at a time from a pile of said articles and guiding them sequentially along a path, comprising:

(a) a belt means moving transversely of said pile in friction contact with the article at one end of said P (b) means for urging said pile and belt means into friction contact with each other whereby the article at said one end of said pile is in contact with said belt means,

(c) roller means adjacent said pile elastically pressed against said belt means as it leaves said pile,

(d) means to retain said pile of articles spaced from said roller means except for the articles in said pile adjacent said belt means,

(e) means for driving the belt contacting surface of said roller means in the opposite direction of said belt means, and

(f) adjustable slipping coupling means between said driving means and said roller means, whereby the direction of movement of said roller means is dependent upon the possible presence between said roller means and said belt means of at least two superimposed fiat articles, while the friction between said roller means and one of said articles as well as the friction between said belt means and one of said articles is greater than the friction between two of said articles, so that said means for driving said roller means tends to drive said roller means via said slipping coupling means with a force which is always suflicient to overcome the friction between two of said fiat articles in .a direction opposite to the direction in which said roller means is influenced by said belt means, and thus said roller means only rotates in said opposite driven direction when more than one 5 6 article is removed from said pile by said belt means 2,951,575 9/1961 Gordon 198-35 and moved into contact With said roller means so 3,044,770 7/1962 Breuers 271-36 that said driving means for said roller means prevents the further movement from said pile of all but said HENSON WOOD Puma Exammer' one article in direct contact With said belt means, 5 HUGO SCHULZ, SAMUEL COLEMAN,

References Cited by the Examiner RAPHA L M. LUPO, Examiners.

UNITED STATES PATENTS MORRIS TEMIN, W. F. MCCARTHY, I. N. ERLICH, 2,762,623 9/1956 Uthenwoldt et a1 271-36 Assistant Exammers- 2,950,675 8/1960 Copping et a1 27136 X 10 

1. DEVICE FOR FEEDING OUT, ONE BY ONE, SHEETS (Z) OF LAMINAR MATERIAL, WHICH TOGETHER FORM A STACK, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING A POSITIVELY DRIVEN CONVEYOR MEMBER AND A MOVEABLE FRICTION MEMBER (F OR 3) COOPERATING UNDER PRESSURE WITH THE CONVEYOR MEMBER (S), THE COOPERATING PARTS OF WHICH MEMBERS MOVE ALONG CLOSED TRACKS AND BETWEEN WHICH MEMBERS THE SHEETS ARE FED OUT, THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF THE FRICTION MEMBER BEING DEPENDENT ON THE POSSIBLE PRESENCE BETWEEN THE FRICTION MEMBER AND THE CONVEYOR MEMBER OF AT LEAST TWO SUPERIMPOSED SHEETS OF LAMINAR MATERIAL (SEE FIG.4), WHILE THE FRICTION BETWEEN THE FRICTION MEMBER AND ONE OF THE SHEETS AS WELL AS THE FRICTION BETWEEN THE CONVEYOR MEMBER AND ONE OF THE SHEETS IS GREATER THAN THE FRICTION BETWEEN TWO OF THE SHEETS, CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING DRIVING MEANS 1, 2 FOR THE FRICTION MEMBER, INCLUDING DRIVING MEMBERS AND A SLIP CLUTCH 5 BETWEEN THE DRIVING MEMBERS AND THE FRICTION MEMBER, CONTINUOUSLY TENDING TO DRIVE THE FRICTION MEMBER VIA THE SLIP CLUTCH, WITH A FORCE WHICH IS ALWAYS SUFFICIENT TO OVERCOME THE FRICTION BETWEEN TWO OF THE SHEETS OF LAMINAR MATERIAL, IN A DIRECTION OPPOSITE TO THE DIRECTION IN WHICH THE FRICTION MEMBER IS INFLUENCED BY THE CONVEYOR MEMBER. 